Latch apparatus on vehicle doors are known. Such apparatus typically are mounted with to a door frame that surrounds and supports a window. Loads on the apparatus may be transmitted to the door and, in some cases, the loads may be high enough to deform the door and/or break the window. Those loads may be from closing or slamming the door or may be from vibrational stresses experienced during operation of the machine or vehicle.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,095,659 (“Benoit”) issued Mar. 17, 1992 is an example of prior art related to latch mechanisms. FIGS. 4-5 of Benoit discloses a hardware release module for a car door. The module has an exterior release mechanism attached to cables that transmit loads from the handle and lock cylinder to a latch mechanism. Benoit discloses a door with a door frame surrounding a glass window, where the window is a relatively small portion of the entire door area. The window is disposed in the upper portion of the door. The hardware release module is disposed in the remaining portion of the door. Thus, structural stresses applied to the car door of Benoit from the handle and lock cylinder have a relatively large door frame area over which the stresses may be absorbed and/or dissipated. Disadvantageously, the door of Benoit is not beneficial for use on machines and industrial vehicles because the relatively small window size inhibits the visibility desired by machine and industrial vehicle operators.